In September 2009 the latest American Communities Survey data was released and continues to confirm and highlight the growing trend of poverty in our County:

Pathways Past Poverty is now using 3-year averages rather than a single year of data when discussing poverty. This is the approach the Census Bureau generally uses with subpopulations. Using averages helps to smooth out margin of error issues that are inherent with smaller sample sizes.

Larimer County statistics include Fort Collins data - as well as all other communities within the county.

Overall Poverty

• The three year average for the number of people living below the poverty line in Larimer County is 35,446.  When compared to the 2000 Census, that’s an increase of 56.8%.
• Larimer County’s averaged poverty rate is 12.8%. That’s a 38.8% increase since 2000.
• Larimer County has increased its rate of growth for people living in poverty 1.4 times faster than the State and 5.6 times faster than the Nation.

Children in Poverty

• The three year average for the number of children living below the poverty line in Larimer County is 7,176.  When compared to the 2000 Census, that’s an increase of 68%.
• Larimer County’s averaged childhood poverty rate is 12.5%. That’s a 71.7% increase since 2000.

• Larimer County has increased its rate of growth for childhood poverty 1.9 times faster than the State and 6.8 times faster than the Nation.

Seniors in Poverty

• The three year average for the number of seniors living below the poverty line in Larimer County is 1,886.  While this number is small compared to our total population, it shows a significant increase of 85.4% when compared to the 2000 Census:
• Larimer County’s averaged senior poverty rate is 7.3%. That’s a 65.1% increase since 2000.
• Larimer County has increased its rate of growth for seniors living in poverty 4.7 times faster than the State and 81.3 times faster than the Nation.

 

 2007 Data  -  reports on overall poverty, children and seniors in poverty as well as household income changes in Larimer County.

 

 2008 Data  -  reports on overall poverty, children and seniors in poverty as well as household income changes in Larimer County.

 

Fort Collins statistics are sited to give a clearer perspective and breakdown of the county.

The American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates are only available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more.

 

Loveland statistics are based on the Census Bureau’s recently released the 2005-2007 ACS Three Year Averages. Because this data is collected over 3 years, they were able to include estimates for geographic areas with populations of 20,000 or more.

 

*The data used for the three year averages comes primarily from the Census Bureau’s 2000 Census and the 2005, 2006 and 2007 American Community Surveys (unless otherwise noted). One limitation is that the census only has specific ACS data for cities and counties of more than 65,000 people.

It’s important to note that college towns tend to have higher poverty rates than non-college towns, because the presence of students distorts the picture somewhat. However, Fort Collins has always been a college town and while the student population has increased some in recent years, that increase is not enough to explain away the poverty increases and growing trends we’ve seen since 2000.